The Great War Era: End of the Middle Ages Fall 2021 Instructor: Dr. Gracjan Kraszewski , Director of Intellectual Formation, UI Vandal Catholic Office Hours: TBA; 6-8 hrs/weekly at St. Augustine’s Catholic Center, Univ. Idaho Classroom/Time: Tuesdays & Thursdays from 8:25-9:55 AM at St. Aug. Catholic Center-UI Course Description and Approach Consider that during the Great War Era (1914-1918/19) the following events either transpired or came about later with direct, foundational links to this period: the Apparitions at Fatima, The Russian Revolution, the solidification of America as a world power and the beginning of the ‘American Century,’ the Spanish Flu, the creation of the modern Middle East including the state of Israel, the birth of postmodern nihilism in domains as wide ranging as architecture, art, and politics, the seedbed for the rise of Nazism and Bolshevism towards an even greater world calamity but two decades later, and with the collapse of empires in Russia, Germany, Turkey and Austria-Hungary truly the ‘end of the Middle Ages’ and the birth of a brave new world. Simply put, the Great War is arguably the most important event of the past half- millennium (with competition only from the French and American Revolutions), since the close of the Reformation-Counter Reformation Era. This class will therefore take the student from the factors that led up to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 through the trench warfare on the Western Front and the harrowing dramas of the Somme and Verdun, through Russian collapse and American entry into the conflict, unto Armistice Day and the Versailles Treaty, a time when those who paused to catch their breath from four years of unprecedented carnage would need to brace themselves in the face of a pandemic which claimed even more lives than the war. Why and how and what does it mean; why is the Great War so important, how can we, from the perspective of more than a century, make sense of what transpired, and, what lessons can we draw from this drama today? *In addition to this course, a parallel track of readings (the required books which are listed below; three from famous author and apologist G.K. Chesterton) will supplement and inform our dominant chronology. Note: Books should be read by the class date they are listed. **- I will also be offering a French course this year, over two semesters, Fall 21-Spring 22. The course will be primarily a ‘DIY’ method of working at one’s own pace, however we will meet at the St Augustine Center each Wednesday for conversational practice from Noon-1pm. More information on this offering will be disseminated in a separate email/ pamphlet prior to the start of the semester. Required BooKs (7) Chesterton, The Barbarism of Berlin -----, The Appetite of Tyranny -----, Utopia of Usurers Hemingway, Farewell to Arms Coulombe, Blessed Charles of Austria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front Junger, The Storm of Steel Class by Class Lecture Themes Aug T24: The Long 19th century: From Revolution(s) to the The Fin De Siecle. R26: Key Players: Hapsburgs, Hohenzollerns, Romanovs, Britain, France, U.S. T31: A Powderkeg in the Balkans: Europe and its Entangling Alliances; 1871-1900. Books 1 and 2: Chesterton, The Barbarism of Berlin and The Appetite of Tyranny Sep R2 The Twilight Years of Middle Age Europe: Notes on the Coming Crisis-1900-1913 T7 Assassination, Ultimatums, ‘The July Crisis’; July-August 1914. R9 The Schlieffen Plan and the Opening of the Western Front (-end 1914) T14 Trench Warfare, Chemical Weapons, and the Shattering of Illusions Book 3: Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front R16 Tannenberg and the Eastern Front through 1914. T21 1915 on the Eastern Front (Gorlice-Tarnow, et al). R23 1915 on the Western Front (Spring Offensive) plus the sinking of the Lusitania T28 1915 on the Western Front II-Fall Offensive R30 1916 and a New German Strategy Oct T5 The Brusilov Offensive and 1916 in the East R7 The Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme (1916 in the West) Book 4: Junger, The Storm of Steel Test 1 T12 The Battle of Jutland (1916) and the Quest for Supremacy on the Sea R14 1916 in America and on Homefronts throughout; + unr. sub warfare and Zimmerman Tele. T19 As the calendar turned to 1917: The state of the War up to the end of March 1917. R21 Pope Benedict XV and the hope for Peace. All peace talks up to 1917. T26 Rasputin and Rumblings of Trouble from Russia (through summer 1917) R28 American entry into the War. Book 5: Chesterton, Utopia of Usurers Nov T2 The Apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima (May-October 1917). R4 The Russian Revolution. T9 All the War Chronology from mid through the end of 1917. Books 6: Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms R11 Operation Faustschlag and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918). T16 1918 in the West: The German Spring Offensive R18 The American Factor: The AEF and the Allied Counter into Armistice Day T30 Blessed Emperor Karl and the End of the Middle Ages Book 7: Colombe, Blessed Charles of Austria Dec R2 Woodrow Wilson, and the Conference of Versailles T7 Epidemic Postscript: The Spanish Flu R9 What We Know Now: Looking Back at the Lost Peace of 1919-1939 Test 2/Assign. C Assignments: Students will complete three assignments in this course. All are worth an equal 33.34% points. A. Test 1, covering material from Aug 24-Oct 7. B. Test 2, Oct 12-Dec 9 C. A comprehensive synthetic essay addressing the course’s reading material 2 .